What did Barbara Eden

[Rezny@gmail.com]

think about the animated version of "I Dream of Jeannie" that CBS did called "Jeannie"?She would have been great as the voice of Jeannie's mother.

[TV Knowledge Fan]

...possibly because she was never asked to provide any voices for it- and neither were the rest of the cast. The closest to anyone from the series who did provide a voice for one of the main characters was Bob Hastings, who guest starred (as "Homer Banks") in "Have You Heard the One About the Used Car Salesman?" [11/4/68]. He was the voice of "Henry Glopp", "Corry Anders"' [Mark Hamill] best friend {similar to "Roger's" part}. Bob once played "Archie Andrews" on radio in the late '40s, and he could still sound like a "teenager".

For those of you who've never seen it, the animated "JEANNIE" was quite different from the original series. For one thing, it was aimed at a younger audience (it was on CBS' Saturday morning schedule from 1973 through '75), and featured an entirely different set of characters, mostly teenagers {Fred Silverman, CBS' chief programmer, was a genius at developing successful Saturday morning cartoons featuring teenaged characters- "ARCHIE", "SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU?", "PEBBLES AND BAMM-BAMM", "JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS", et. al.- especially those produced by the Hanna-Barbera studio, which also produced "JEANNIE"}. And, unlike the original, only 16 episodes were produced, even though it became the #1 series in its time period [10:30-11am(et)], getting more viewers than the animated version of "STAR TREK" on NBC {directly adapted from the original, with virtually all of the original cast providing their voices- and 22 episodes were produced over two seasons}. However, CBS decided not to order any further episodes of "JEANNIE" for season two, repeating it in the 1974-'75 season at an earlier time, then cancelling it.

The only similarities between the "live-action" and animated versions of Jeannie is that they were both gorgeous, had similar emotions, and were genies. The similarities ended there, as the animated one was a teenager with red hair, wore a slightly different harem costume, and used her ponytail to create her magic, instead of folding her arms and "blinking" [she also floated a lot, and could fly when necessary]. Julie McWhirter, an impressionist who's also Mrs. Rick Dees [Los Angeles disc jockey], was her voice {I'd say she got the part because she could sound like a "teenaged Barbara Eden"}.

Jeannie also had a teenage "sidekick" {he was "comedy relief"}- a big, bumbling "apprentice" genie named "Babu"- Joe Besser was his voice [he was great at expressing frustration, and the way he exclaimed Babu's catch phrase, "Yapple Dapple!"]. Her "master" was "Corry Anders" [young Mark Hamill], a "typical" teenaged boy who never once took advantage of his good fortune, and, unlike "Tony Nelson", never really entered into a romantic relationship with his Jeannie. His best friend was "Henry Glopp" {the funnier the last name, the more of a "lovable jerk" he was supposed to be}. There were other minor characters, but I'm not going to mention them here....

And, unlike the original series, none of the animated Jeannie's family were ever seen (or mentioned). The only "link" to her ancient past was "Haji", the wise authority over all genies, who was occasionally seen [John Stephenson provided his voice].